Miller v. Western Pacific Railroad

This is an appeal from a judgment on a jury verdict for defendant and respondent, the Western Pacific Railroad Company, in an action arising out of a railroad crossing collision between respondent’s freight train and an automobile operated by a 17-year-old driver and containing five teen-aged passengers. The action is for personal injuries to two of said passengers, appellants Donald I. Miller, Jr. (hereinafter referred to as Donald), and Jeannie Frances Miller Marchello (hereinafter referred to as Jeannie), and for the death of a third passenger, Linda Sue Whitsell, whose mother is the appellant Sadie Troxel. The driver of the automobile and the remaining two passengers are not parties to this action nor did they testify at the trial. The pertinent facts are as follows.

The accident occurred on October 28, 1957, shortly after 9 p. m., at the crossing of Lathrop Road and the respondent’s Stockton to Oakland railroad line near Lathrop, San Joaquin County, California. The automobile was travelling from east to west and the train was proceeding from north to south. The automobile was being driven by Raymond Tinnin. Jeannie, aged 16 years, was sitting in the front seat of said car…